Bachelor on the Cheap

By Mike Thayer

Chips, perhaps America's favorite snack food....  Walk into just about any grocery store and they have an isle dedicated to them, classic potato chips, flavored chips, wavy chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, other kinds of veggie chips and more.

Today, I'm sampling some kettle chips, the Kirkland Signature Kettle brand, a krinkle cut style with Himalayan salt.

If you don't know what the difference is between a classic chip and a kettle chip (besides appearance, texture and taste), classic, a.k.a. 'regular' chips are made on a conveyor belt through a process called continuous fry. In this method, potatoes move through hot oil on a conveyor belt.  The result is a thinner, more uniform looking chip.  Kettle chips are prepared with a process called batch cooking.  Potatoes are literally dumped into an oil-filled kettle and stirred until done, resulting in thicker, not-so-uniform, sometimes folded over, chip.  Kettle chips provide a more robust crunch than 'regular' chips.

Onto the tasting....

These Kettle chips provide a good kettle chip crunch without being too greasy.  The krinkle cut style handles dip well (I did a classic sour cream and onion) without breakage.  I chose this particular bag of chips because I hadn't sampled a pink salt variety yet and I have to say that these chips come off as being a bit bland, even for a regular chip (no flavors added).  The pink salt doesn't seem to carry the same salty flavor burst as traditionally salted chips.  They were a bit on the boring side and that chip dip was needed.

The two pound bag of chips cost me $4.89 at Costco.  I'm giving the Kirkland Signature Kettle Brand Krinkle Cut Himalayan Salt chips 3 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  You get the kettle crunch, they're good for dipping, but on their own they're bland.  These chips are NOT a repeat buy.